249. Information Overload

Why is there something, rather than nothing?

- Links for the Curious -

Information Cultures in the Digital Age. (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 2016). doi:10.1007/978-3-658-14681-8.

1. Bawden, D. & Robinson, L. Information Overload: An Introduction. in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (Oxford University Press, 2020). doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1360.
2. Blackwell, M. Branded, Bombarded and Besieged: Advertising Exposure and the ‘Average’ Consumer.
5. McNearney, A. The Mystery of Why Michelangelo Burned His Sketches Just Before He Died. The Daily Beast (2019).
6. Tomčík, M. & Rosenlacher, P. Number of advertisements per day and their relevance to consumers. Acta Oeconomica Universitatis Selye 7, (2018).
8. McNearney, A. The Mystery of Why Michelangelo Burned His Sketches Just Before He Died. The Daily Beast (2019).
9. After Ten Years, It’s Time to Stop Weekly Videos. (2024).

[_Aarius_]

"if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter"

[CB]

I decided to check there on my google activity.

I subscribed to you on June 30th 2016.

I am a regular YouTube watcher (have premium) and I regularly purge my subscriptions and watch all videos in my subscriptions where I only keep high quality content. Congrats on surviving countless rounds of purges.

You are the 6th oldest channel on my subscription list whose channel is still active. A big testament to how valuable I find your videos to be.

Thanks again for all the insightful and great videos 🎉 it is precisely because of your commitment to quality that I have stayed subscribed for 8 years and watched every single one of your videos.

[TimBorny]

I've said it once...and now twice. You're one of the most authentic and original creators I've followed and loved.

To your question...perhaps it couldn't be another way.

[TheGemsbok]

Josh, congratulations on 10 years (and an impending 250 episodes)!

Those are monumental achievements on a platform that seems purpose-built to discourage anyone that isn't an overnight success.

That means it's been nearly 9 years since I subscribed, and nearly 8 years since I interviewed you. We've both changed a lot since then, but one thing that has remained consistent is that I've never felt the slightest urge to reconsider either of those decisions. What I say in the intro of my interview, that you have an "unflagging dedication to thorough research, humble presentation, and sincerity, " has only become more true with time. And along those lines, your recent turn toward longer, more considered scripts produced at a slower pace is one that has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. The work is better for it, so I am glad to hear that it feels better too.

[anakimluke]

Thanks so much for all these years, josh. you make my favorite youtube channel.

ps. the gods have listened to my prayers!! a full 12 minutes of

[ishtaraletheia]

Happy ten years! When I first found your channel, I remember feeling like it was made for me. In the years since, it has become something more challenging than that, and I appreciate it even more. Thank you for everything. ❤

[AnirudhTammireddy]

I shared the channel to a friend. She really liked the format and the content.
I only follow the "Subscriptions" page and turned off the "Home" since long ago.
To relieve (however small) my fav creators of a constant need to squeeze themselves into a rigorous schedule.

[somecuriosities]

Woo! Congrats on the big 1-0! 🎉🎊

Still as great a hidden YouTube gem as when I first subscribed all those years ago... It's only grown more precious like a Michelangelo sketch and more profound like a Miyazaki work since.

Next vid might be an incredible 250th episode, but, sincerely Josh, thank you for 10 years worth of work that is entertaining, unique and, about all, THUNK-ful.

Heres to 250 more! 🙌

[somewony]

I used to have a "system" where I would simply open a video I wanted to watch in a new tab and then leave it there if I didn't want to watch it immediately. (I'm one of those tab hoarders. Currently my number of open tabs sits at 406. Thank you firefox.) A few years back I decided to get organized and started using the "watch later" list on youtube. I've noticed it's changed how I watch videos a lot. There's a pressure to "work off" the watch list. I used to go back and rewatch videos I really enjoyed, but I don't anymore. It's interesting.

I think we're still trying to come up with ways to deal with this new flood of content we have made for ourselves. I've personally recently decided to block the youtube home page through an extension and I've started deleting videos from my watch list when I realize they don't interest me, though there's a lot of FOMO associated with that. I've also started putting them back onto the end of it when I find them particularly meaningful. I did it to this video.

[JTheill]

What a delightful video. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. There is something super paradoxical about finding gems like this video on youtube next to all the other stuff. In the midst of all this chaos, there are videos like yours. Like a small clearing in the forest, where the sun shines through.

[TheRealFallingFist]

Very poignant and cozy video, I appreciated the anecdote about Michelangelo. Your views align very well with my own, and I really like how you articulate them. If I made content, this is definitely how I'd prefer to make it.
I wish you a lovely spring.

[TrumpetBoredom]

I like how the dog yawned after you did. That’s a sign that the dog loves and trusts you

[Infantry]

Amazing video, high class as always.
Thank you for sharing your art!

[bthomson]

Newton! Here's to ten more informative years! Thanks!

[TrinityLHearts]

Awesome video, thanks!
/ (Pondering)

[utopianna]

I’ve recently destroyed a massive amount of the thoughts I’ve recorded over these many years. It was both embarrassing and exhilarating to read the old me while the new me was so thankful for the growth. I’ve had a career of processing information at warp speed and the way I did that was not personally processing the data. It was tiring but for my free time I’ve always been selective in what to consume or even expose myself to. I don’t do ads or commercials. btw, I’ve never seen The Godfather. Glad to have found you. And your little dog too.

[IanMacLeansnv]

Superb! For the record I'm far more inclined to subscribe and support artists who released on their schedule rather than one that is set. I don't see how it wouldn't guarantee an order of magnitude increase in quality. Scheduled releases I associate with homework. Very little creative about that...

[Xob_Driesestig]

8:50 That's probably why I watch so much video analyses of media. I have a desire to digest what I've consumed but instead of pausing and doing it myself I'm consuming different stuff that does the digesting for me.
7:39 It's pronounced "Shakespeare"
12:26 Congrats on 10 years! As someone who's subscribed to over 400 channels, your videos are easily the most underrated. I hope I get to see 10 years more.
00:19 For a fun philosophy paper on the power of absences, I recommend "A Demonstration of the Causal Power of Absences" by Tyron Goldschmidt

[michaelcherry]

The "spaces between" are defined by all the other stuff. I've always felt true creativity happens when there are restrictions of some kind.
But in order for creativity to flourish, the spaces are as important as the restrictions imposed by that "other stuff".
The issue I have with the 21st century is that, for some reason, we feel that we need to fill every space with something, thus eliminating the very necessary spaces between.
The pressure to constantly consume (or produce) content of some description is a hallmark of the 21st century but if we ever expect to make it to the 22nd century we will need to re-learn the importance of the nothing.
For example, sitting by a stream with your dog and just being.
How many people do you think (or thunk) would find the need to pull out their phones after 30 seconds (45 at the most) "just to check something", or to take a selfie.
There are people who will literally go to a beautiful, peaceful place such as you did and find it impossible to just sit and take it in.
My father (a doctor) would diagnose the 21st century as suffering from "Antus of the Pantus".
Congratulations on 10 years of Thunking. I will take your content as it comes, no matter how regular or irregular the schedule. It's the pauses between uploads that make each video special.😉

[matthewbrunell]

Mark Fisher said (reciting from my memory) "We're allowed to be boring but we're not allowed to be bored."